Soldiers Doze Off During President Obama's Speech to the Nation

I noticed a large number of soldiers, and even some higher-ranking individuals, dozing off during President Obama's most recent speech. Did you? Watch the address online, preferably on a television broadcasting affiliate rather than the official White House website, and keep a close eye on the following times and camera angles.

As the Presidential address got underway, the crowd of soldiers, honored guests, and members of the governmental elite gave their full and undivided attention to President Obama. As the President talked about his plans for the war on terrorism and the economic recovery, every eye was upon him, taking in every word. Slowly but surely, however, the crowd began to lose interest.

At approximately 7:25 central time, a young male soldier was filmed in full slumber, head slumped over and eyes fully closed. It was obvious that this young man was not praying or looking at his cell phone. His head bobbed slightly up and down with each breath, just as anyone's head would do if they were asleep. The young man was seated mid-way down the aisle, with dark brown to black hair.

Two frames later, as the camera swept the crowd, a young female soldier joined the ranks of the sleepy brigade, fighting to keep her eyes open. Her behavior reminded me of the truck driver who has been driving for the last 20 hours and, knowing that his final destination is only a few minutes away, forces himself to keep his eyes open. In addition to this woman's fluttering eyelids, her facial countenance resembled that of someone who was experiencing a drunken stupor.

Hilary Clinton also seemed to have difficulty holding her eyes open. Her eyes batted more times than normal, similar to the way someone who is fighting off sleep may attempt to mask their condition.

At 7:32 Obama's speech stirred the crowd, and spontaneous applause erupted. Sleeping soldiers were shaken from their foggy-headedness. During the next four minutes, the crowd applauded a few more times. Perhaps the applause was offered out of respect and agreement with what the President had to say. Maybe it was given simply because it was an expected behavior. Regardless, it is obvious that many individuals in the crowd were less than impressed by the Presidential Address.

The speech ended at 7:36pm, followed by commentary by Senator John McCain and moderator Richard Gregory. On political broadcasting stations, commentary continued past 7:45. For general stations, such as NBC and CBS, regular programming resumed at this time.

One can only imagine what these individuals are dealing with in their daily lives. I am certain that there will be numerous critics coming out from every nook and cranny of the nation, pointing fingers at the fact that they were sleeping. And while this article does bring to light the fact that sleeping and dozing off did occur, I would like to point out that these soldiers may have been sleep deprived. Maybe they just came off of a long training camp. Perhaps they were just recently home from overseas. I failed to hear if any introduction of the attendees were given or any indication of their background, other than they represented our men and women in uniform.

What do you think? Should these soldiers be reprimanded for dozing off? Or, should the armed services take a closer look at how hard they work the soldiers, even when they are off duty? Who is to blame for their sleepiness? Is it the individual, who failed to be responsible for themselves and their sleep schedule? Is it the society, who requires them (and frankly, most of us) to do without sleep on a daily basis? Is it the armed services, who make demands on soldiers that most of us in civilian life will never face? Or maybe the cause is a combination of all of these things, along with health issues, stress at home, financial worry.

Source:

Live Presidential address, broadcast on NBC, 7:00pm - 7:45pm central time, December 1, 2009.